Chillingo COO Ed Rumley has claimed the firm's acquisition by EA in 2010 was motivated by the American giant's desire to former stronger relationships with indies.
Speaking to PocketGamer.biz as part of a week long look at the mobile development scene in the North West of England, Rumley - who was previously at EA - claimed the publisher had previously been hampered by a "culture" that threatened to scupper deals with smaller studios.
Chillingo, he suggested, had a more agile approach, far more suitable to the indie scene.
"I spent several years signing content for EA from indie developers when the app stores first started," stated Rumley.
"There were a huge amount of benefits to being under an EA brand but also certain disadvantages, not about the brand but about the culture of the business."
Power of EA
Rumley went on to claim it was crucial for Chillingo to maintain its indie sensibilities after being acquired by EA, a goal he believes the firm accomplished.
"The great thing about Chillingo is we really ring fenced the organisation and kept it true to what it is, a business that EA acquired for the purpose of independent developers," he added.
"We haven't gone and changed the brand or the way that Chillingo works as a business."
However, Rumley claims some indies may class what Chillingo does at EA as meddling - despite the fact that the firm only wants to help developers find success.
"If we're commenting on the monetisation of a game it's not unusual now to put that game in front of the team that's working on The Simpsons or Real Racing 3," he explained.
"EA is obviously a large company with offices in Guildford, California and other parts of the world. Our business compliments EA's. We're part of that organisation and that skillset when we need it to be."
Planning for the future
Rumley also detailed the future of the publisher, noting that Chillingo's indie bent may force it to look at release games on platforms beyond mobile - namely Steam and PS Vita.
"The number of developers coming to us is always climbing," claimed Rumley, "but publishing mobile content is difficult. There is a Californian gold rush and maybe people are beginning to realise that it is a difficult platform.
"I'm never going to say it's an easy platform to publish on because the fact is that it isn't. There are hundreds of apps a day launching, not just games but across all areas.
"The volume of content, it's always difficult to break through. That said, we recently published some content on the Vita so if people are moving in that direction, we can move as well. Right now our focus is on smartphone."
You can read the interview in full here.
